The 3 step, No Fuss Way To Clean Up Cat Vomit

Mrs Pet Parent has cleaned up cat vomit 3 times today. By regular standards at Cat Habitat HQ that’s a lot in a single 24 hour period, and it was only on the last occasion that I managed to get the offending cat outside in time.

It’s taken me a while, but I have managed to come up with what I consider to be a no fuss way to deal with my least favourite task associated with pet care (no, it’s not just getting Mr Pet Parent to do it!):

Get a plastic bag (I use the ones you get at the fruit and veg shop) and get rid of the bulk of the mess;

Wet a sponge so it’s damp and blot the area. As with all things that may potentially mark your carpet don’t scrub at it as this will only force the stain-causing stuff further into the pile of the carpet. Given the frequency with with which this type of clean up occurs, I have a separate sponge that I use exclusively for these occasions and keep it at the ready in the laundry;

Once you think you’ve got as much out of the carpet out as you can, give it 10 minutes or so then sprinkle the area with bicarb soda. Cover the area with a bowl, ice cream container or similar so curious animals are kept away. The bicarb will absorb any residual smell as well as lifting out stain causing properties from your carpet. Leave it for at least an hour, but I’ve left mine on as long as overnight, then whip out the vacuum and give it a going over. Ta da…clean carpet.

Just a couple of things to note is that (1) we are taking about Bicarbonate Soda not Baking Soda. They are two different things. And (2) don’t be tempted to add any type of essential oils to the bicarb thinking that it will mask odour. Animals have very sensitive senses of smell and even small amounts of essential oils are very strong and so best avoided.

If you’ve got older stains (pet caused or otherwise), you can also try sprinkling the stain with a layer of bicarb soda then spraying it with a 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar until it’s damp. Give it a good 3 to 4 hours (longer if it’s a heavy stain), then vacuum up. If you can see the stain persisting leave the mixture on longer and try again in a few hours.

Let us know if you have any other handy (and cheap!) tips to share like this.